WASHINGTON — Donald Trump heavily hinted Thursday that the United States could support the United Kingdom’s controversial plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, home to a secretive U.S. military base, over to Mauritius after all.
“We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon, and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well,” Trump told reporters in the White House as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Thursday.
The U.K. reached an agreement last October which would see the long-disputed archipelago in the Indian Ocean granted to Mauritius. It means the U.K. ceding a colonial possession that is currently home to the joint U.K.-U.S. Diego Garcia airbase.
Britain has negotiated a lease on the base for at least 99 years, which could be extended, but conservatives at home and abroad have accused Starmer’s government of needlessly giving up the islands — and warned the deal could allow China to get a toehold in the region.
Joe Biden’s White House backed the agreement, but it was unclear whether the new administration would endorse the deal.
Trump made positive noises Thursday, saying the lease had been struck for a “long time,” and adding: “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.”
Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio told POLITICO before taking up post that the deal poses “a serious threat” to U.S. national security and “critical U.S. military posture.” Robert Wilkie, who headed up Trump’s Department of Defense transition team and used to be secretary for veterans affairs, called it a “calamitous decision” that wasn’t “thinking about the long term.”
The president’s hint at endorsement of the agreement will come as a relief for the British government. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told ITV News Wednesday that Trump’s backing was essential for the deal to go ahead.
“If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, the deal will not go forward,” Lammy said. “They’ve got to be happy with the deal or there is no deal.”
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